Two dead after light plane crash alongside NSW highway

A LIGHT aircraft which plunged into a paddock near Lismore Airport, killing two people on board, narrowly missed a nearby farm house occupied by several people.

Richmond Local Area Command police have cordoned off a wide area around the site of the crash which occurred around 10.15am (AEST) today just off the Bruxner Highway, about 5km south of the Lismore Airport at South Gundurimbra.

The plane is believed to have burst into flames when it crashed into a gully less than 100m from the property's sheds and about 200m away from the main homestead, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.

Wreckage from the plane is strewn across the paddock with most of it out of sight in a gully behind the buildings, with the only indication of an accident the telltale sign of burned grass.

Acting Inspector Andrew Synott said it appeared the aircraft had burst into flames upon impact.

``About 10.15am this morning we received an aircraft had come down in the paddock behind us,'' Insp Synott said.

``Emergency services attended a short time later and we confirmed at that stage it was on fire. The fire brigade attended and extinguished that and after that we were able to confirm that two persons were deceased inside the aircraft.''

He further confirmed a house near to the accident had been occupied but declined to confirm how many people were inside.

The area will remain cordoned off until Air Safety Bureau personnel from Canberra arrive to investigate the cause of the accident.

Insp Synott declined to comment on whether the plane was on a training flight from Lismore Airport about 5km to the north.

Weather conditions in Lismore at the time of the accident were slightly overcast but were not expected to have played a part in the tragedy.

A witness told media he thought the plane was attempting to make an emergency landing in the field.

"I saw a plane veering to the left and heading down," Steven Bilson told media. "I think he might have been aiming for flat country for a crash landing."

Another witness told the the Seven Network the aircraft banked hard left, then ``fell like a rock'' to the ground.